WAB Brighton Power Rankings October 2022
When Roberto De Zerbi took charge of Brighton, one of the first things he said was that he wanted Leandro Trossard to score more goals.
Actually, De Zerbi went further than that. He said he believed he could improve Trossard even beyond the superlative set of performances the Vampire of Genk had been turning in since the 2-1 victory at Arsenal back in April, ending a seven game winless run and earning Glow Up Graham Potter the Chelsea job.
At the time, it seemed a little ambitious. But then Trossard went and scored a hat-trick at Liverpool in De Zerbi’s debut in the Albion dugout. Since then, there has been no looking back.
It is no surprise therefore to see Trossard topping the WAB Power Rankings for October 2022. And it would be no surprise to see the first three on the list – Trossard, Alexis Mac Allister and Moises Caicedo – being the subject of bids from Glow Up and his new club either in January or the summer.
The money will no doubt tempt them to jump ship for Stamford Bridge. But they might wish to consider if there is more to football than just swelling a bank balance.
These Power Rankings show that Trossard is not the only player to have already benefited from working with De Zerbi. If they stick with the Albion and the likeable Italian now at the helm, who knows how far Brighton can go?
1) Leandro Trossard – 77.81
A double for Trossard who tops the Power Rankings after being voted WAB October Player of the Month. Five goals came from that treble at Anfield, a glorious strike against Manchester City and the opener in the humiliation of Chelsea at the Amex. Brighton could survive the sales of Yves Bissouma, Ben White and Marc Cucurella. Replacing Trossard looks a much harder proposition.
2) Alexis Mac Allister – 77.62
De Zerbi demands much faster football involving one touch passing and playing out of tight spaces. Mac Allister already looks central to that, sitting in the front of the back line where he can turn defence into attack with his ability to play both short and long balls with accuracy.
3) Moises Caicedo – 76.71
Whilst Mac Allister gets on with conducting, Caicedo provides the energy and turnovers alongside him. Covered every blade of grass in October and consistently won back possession. Chelsea fans were left comparing him to N’Golo Kante after their visit to the Amex whilst Real Madrid are rumoured to be considering a £68 million bid.
4) Solly March – 75.62
Trossard was not the only individual who De Zerbi spoke of. The Italian also wanted to unlock more from March, who he viewed as a key player. Goals might still be lacking, but his assist for Trossard’s consolation at City was impressive and he followed that up by making Cucurella look like a Sussex Sunday League Division Nine player.
5) Lewis Dunk – 75.34
October was not an easy month for the Albion defence, seeing as they faced all of Mo Salah, Harry Kane, Son Heung-min, Erling Haaland and Ivan Toney. Dunk coped better than his fellow central defenders Joel Veltman and Adam Webster in dealing with those threats before looking impervious against Chelsea.
6) Robert Sanchez – 71.78
A classic month for Sanchez really. Made some vital saves, including a string of superb stops in the win over Chelsea. Mixed it up by conceding goals you felt he should have done better with at Liverpool and Brentford.
7) Pascal Gross – 70.68
Bit of a slow burn under De Zerb initally. Gross did though go onto provide one of the most pleasing individual performances of October with his showing at right back in the 4-1 win over Chelsea. Glow Up had tried him as a full back on a couple of occasions which always ended in unmitigated disaster, and yet here it was proving a roaring success under De Zerbi against Potter. The irony was wonderful.
8) Adam Webster – 66.85
Any hopes Webster had of making a late bolt for the England World Cup squad were put paid to as he struggled in October. Toney got the better of him at Brentford, he might have done better in preventing Kai Havertz scoring for Chelsea and was a bit all over the place at Liverpool too.
9) Adam Lallana – 58.49
Used in a variety of roles under Potter, De Zerbi seems to have settled on Lallana as a number 10 in his preferred 4-2-3-1 formation. At the heart of everything good Brighton did in the win over Chelsea. His leadership and experience have also proved pivotal both on and off the pitch as a young Albion squad transition to a new head coach.
10) Pervis Estupinan – 58.36
A strange month for the left back. Hauled at half time against Brentford despite being one of the better Brighton players on show, he had to wait until the Chelsea game to get his place back when De Zerbi switched to a back four. Did not play much like a full back that day, constantly charging forward including when setting up the second Blues own goal of the afternoon.
11) Kaoru Mitoma – 58.36
The wait for a full Premier League debut proved worth it. Given his chance against Chelsea, he was involved in two of the goals via a display full of pace, trickery and directness. Looks to be exactly the sort of player Brighton have been needing for some time.
12) Tariq Lamptey – 44.38
Offered a lot off the bench during October. His introduction at City directly led to Brighton being so dominant against the champions that home fans and players inside the Etihad Stadium became noticeably nervous. Against Chelsea, he helped break a good spell for the visitors by offering a pacier threat up the right and allowing Gross to push into midfield.
13) Joel Veltman – 43.56
Missed the Chelsea match through injury but prior to that had been below his normal dependable best. Gave away the penalty which enabled Brentford to double their lead at the Gtech Stadium. That kind of summed his month up.
14) Danny Welbeck – 38.77
Managed to reach Halloween without scoring a goal which was impressive for a centre forward starting all but two of his club’s Premier League matches. Injury ruled him out against Chelsea and Brighton looked better without him; a bizarre turn of events given Dat Guy had been so central to the way the Albion played over the previous three months.
15) Julio Enciso – 28.49
A lively Premier League debut as a second half substitute in the Chelsea win. It was Enciso’s shot parried by Edouard Mendy which gave Gross the chance to add the fourth and he might have been involved in another goal had he passed right to send Trossard in one-on-one rather than shooting himself. Decision making clearly needs work, but there is talent there.
16) Deniz Undav – 4.11
Still hasn’t received enough game time to be judged on. Struggled to make much impact in his one appearance of note at Brentford, but that was hardly a surprise as nobody in hyper-turq that night looked particularly dangerous.
The WAB Power Rankings are formulated through our matchday player scores. To play your part, make sure to follow us on Twitter and leave your post game player ratings in the relevant thread.
